Lidl’s industry leading prices and multi award-winning product ranges, helped the retailer attract more than 1.3m more customers in the run up to Christmas, with households switching to the discounter from more expensive traditional supermarkets.
In a bid to get the best Christmas products without big prices, shoppers switched £62.8m spend to Lidl GB – almost triple that of Christmas 2021. This contributed to a rise of 24.5% in overall sales YOY and saw the retailer celebrate its busiest ever day of trading in 28 years on Friday 23 December.
Families filling their fridges and food cupboards with produce from Lidl GB were also able to benefit from some of the lowest prices on the market, with a Christmas dinner costing just £2.75 per head. As people turned to the discounter for seasonal staples, its ‘Pick of the Week’ Christmas veg returned at 19p each, with sales jumping by over a third (37%) YOY.
Festive treats also topped shopping lists with Lidl’s Deluxe 24 Month Matured Christmas Pudding sales increasing by 185% YOY. Fuelled by the Negroni Sbagliato trend which went viral online, the retailer helped households enjoy almost 7 million glasses of prosecco.
Traditional Christmas classics remained popular with 1.7m glasses of Lidl mulled wine served, and sales of its premium Deluxe own-label cheese range increased by nearly 30%.
CEO Ryan McDonnell said, “Every week of the year we are seeing more customers coming through our doors, switching spend to Lidl from the traditional supermarkets. We know they switch to us to make savings, but then they stay with us when they realise that they’re not having to compromise on quality, and this Christmas was no exception.
“Our strategy - great quality products at low prices - has remained the same since we first opened our doors over 28 years ago. But that is only because it’s as relevant now as it ever has been. It is working because we are seeing big switching gains with over £63m of spend moving to us in the four weeks to the 25th of December. We only see this momentum continuing in 2023.”
Ryan continued, “As we head into another new year, we’re laser focused on strengthening our infrastructure across the country. As we continue with the expansion of our distribution centres in Belvedere and Bridgend, we’re set to open our biggest ever warehouse in Luton later this year.
'This doubles down on our efforts of giving more communities access to our unrivalled quality-value combination, something that’s particularly important as families continue to tighten their belts in the current climate.”